Novel Lucerne [Under Construction]

[nite owℓ]

10 minutes ago, codypet said:

Inventory post Hurricane Ian has been pretty bad at Aldi.

But what was their excuse before Ian? lol

I went there at the urging of family and friends, but it's just not my thing I guess. Paying to use carts/bags, the presentation of food still in shipping boxes, etc. would only be worth it for me if they carried unique offerings like Trader Joes. I had always mistaken Aldi's for something equivalent to Big Lots or Sedanos which is why I never ventured there until this year.

Side note, I don't know why Winn Dixie gets a bad rap for being low tier -- their prices are kind of high, especially for natural/organic items. They charge Publix prices.

Edited November 9, 2022 by nite owℓ

[AmIReal]

I doubt this space will be another grocer and I'm not betting on it being traditional retail. My guess is on something medical... hope I'm wrong. 

[nite owℓ]

Just now, AmIReal said:

I doubt this space will be another grocer and I'm not betting on it being traditional retail. My guess is on something medical... hope I'm wrong. 

That would be a shock and a disappointment. Orlando Health was intent on providing an amenity to the community prior to selling off the land. Discussions fell apart during the first round of development because they felt the first developer wasn't doing enough. I guess OH no longer has any say in what Novel does with their property, but I do think the development received funding either in the form of grants or tax breaks as long as a grocer remains a tenant of the space. Something along those lines, don't quote me on that.

[JFW657]

2 hours ago, nite owℓ said:

But what was their excuse before Ian? lol

I went there at the urging of family and friends, but it's just not my thing I guess. Paying to use carts/bags, the presentation of food still in shipping boxes, etc. would only be worth it for me if they carried unique offerings like Trader Joes. I had always mistaken Aldi's for something equivalent to Big Lots or Sedanos which is why I never ventured there until this year.

Side note, I don't know why Winn Dixie gets a bad rap for being low tier -- their prices are kind of high, especially for natural/organic items. They charge Publix prices.

Actually, you don't have to "pay" to use the carts. You put a quarter in the chain lock box mounted to the handle, then you get it back when you return the cart and re-lock it to the other.

It's an extremely effective and ingenious way of getting people to return their carts rather than leave them strewn around the parking lot either being stolen by bums or having to be retrieved by an employee, both of which would require raising their prices. Almost everyone will push that cart back to the front of the store just to get that quarter back.

Also, they have their own brands, all of which are of good quality and which are priced competitively with Walmart, which is about as thrifty as you can get.

But if you're looking for great imported chocolates and pastries/cakes, they're the place to go.

I'd shop there a lot more often if there was one closer.  

Posting this just for fun....

 

She didn't show the procedure in reverse where you push the little key thing into the back side of the box and it pushes your quarter back out.

Yes, I'm bored today.   

.

[nite owℓ]

2 hours ago, JFW657 said:

Actually, you don't have to "pay" to use the carts. You put a quarter in the chain lock box mounted to the handle, then you get it back when you return the cart and re-lock it to the other.

It's an extremely effective and ingenious way of getting people to return their carts rather than leave them strewn around the parking lot either being stolen by bums or having to be retrieved by an employee, both of which would require raising their prices. Almost everyone will push that cart back to the front of the store just to get that quarter back.

 

True, I wasn't aware the quarter could be returned until the 2nd visit... and realized it was more like a deposit system. Regardless, I usually stow my carts in a decent manner -- quarter or not. However, I noticed not everyone at Aldi returned their carts, thus forfeiting their quarters. IMO, people are gonna do what they are gonna do and a quarter is more of a PITA for those of us who normally do not walk around with cash/change. I was told to bring the quarter by the person who recommended I visit the store. The whole thing just seems bizarre in this day & age and those quirks are kind of a turn off for me.

Edited November 9, 2022 by nite owℓ

[JFW657]

38 minutes ago, nite owℓ said:

True, I wasn't aware the quarter could be returned until the 2nd visit... and realized it was more like a deposit system. Regardless, I usually stow my carts in a decent manner -- quarter or not. However, I noticed not everyone at Aldi returned their carts, thus forfeiting their quarters. IMO, people are gonna do what they are gonna do and a quarter is more of a PITA for those of us who normally do not walk around with cash/change. I was told to bring the quarter by the person who recommended I visit the store. The whole thing just seems bizarre in this day & age and those quirks are kind of a turn off for me.

If some people didn't have such a proclivity to steal grocery carts to use for God knows what, they wouldn't need to do that.

But I've found from shopping there fairly often over the years, that most people who shop there return the carts.

I'm guessing the quarter deposit is kind of a German mindset kind of thing.

Germans being the very practical, pragmatic, problem solving type folk they are, and who take the practical approach to everything, figured out that most people just want their gol-durned quarter back, dang it!!! 

I like it.       

[nite owℓ]

1 hour ago, JFW657 said:

If some people didn't have such a proclivity to steal grocery carts to use for God knows what, they wouldn't need to do that.

But I've found from shopping there fairly often over the years, that most people who shop there return the carts.

I'm guessing the quarter deposit is kind of a German mindset kind of thing.

Germans being the very practical, pragmatic, problem solving type folk they are, and who take the practical approach to everything, figured out that most people just want their gol-durned quarter back, dang it!!! 

I like it.       

Nah, that crap will only fly with me if we were still in the 90's. It's an outdated mode of implementing a deterrence. I've briefly lived in a country that required deposits when purchasing glass soda bottles and I was totally fine with that system because it wasn't obstructive and you could return the bottle(s) at your leisure.

I was recently at Walmart Neighborhood Market in SoDo and found an errant cart in the parking lot (one of the last mini carts). Only, the wheel was locked because someone tried to take it out of the zone in the parking lot. One of the employees saw me struggling with it and offered to unlock it for me. I was thinking he had a magnet in his pocket or something to place against the wheel, but no. To my amazement, he simply pointed his handheld device and unlocked the wheel that way.

If Aldi would migrate the deposit system onto a cell phone app or some sort of tap to pay then it would be more tolerable. I know I'm kinda stuck in my ways, but I highly doubt most people walk around with cash/change these days. Don't make your customer's lives more difficult before they can even get into the store lol.

When I shop at Whole Foods, Target, etc. the parking lot isn't trashed nor are there tons of carts littering the parking lot compared to when I shop at Walmart. Know your customer base and react accordingly. I highly doubt the average Aldi's shopper demographic would take off with one of their carts. The few carts left in the Aldi's parking lot (with quarters jammed in them) still required employees to retrieve them anyway.

Just saying.

Edited November 10, 2022 by nite owℓ

[JFW657]

13 hours ago, nite owℓ said:

Nah, that crap will only fly with me if we were still in the 90's. It's an outdated mode of implementing a deterrence. I've briefly lived in a country that required deposits when purchasing glass soda bottles and I was totally fine with that system because it wasn't obstructive and you could return the bottle(s) at your leisure.

I was recently at Walmart Neighborhood Market in SoDo and found an errant cart in the parking lot (one of the last mini carts). Only, the wheel was locked because someone tried to take it out of the zone in the parking lot. One of the employees saw me struggling with it and offered to unlock it for me. I was thinking he had a magnet in his pocket or something to place against the wheel, but no. To my amazement, he simply pointed his handheld device and unlocked the wheel that way.

If Aldi would migrate the deposit system onto a cell phone app or some sort of tap to pay then it would be more tolerable. I know I'm kinda stuck in my ways, but I highly doubt most people walk around with cash/change these days. Don't make your customer's lives more difficult before they can even get into the store lol.

When I shop at Whole Foods, Target, etc. the parking lot isn't trashed nor are there tons of carts littering the parking lot compared to when I shop at Walmart. Know your customer base and react accordingly. I highly doubt the average Aldi's shopper demographic would take off with one of their carts. The few carts left in the Aldi's parking lot (with quarters jammed in them) still required employees to retrieve them anyway.

Just saying.

Well, to each his own, but to address a couple of your points I feel need correcting....

Making people install an app onto their phone is afaic, worse than asking them to fish a quarter out of their pockets or purses. And I'm fairly certain that people do, in fact still carry currency around with them. I'm also fairly certain that there is still a fairly significant number of people who don't own smart phones upon which they can download an app to tap.  

As for their cart security method, you inadvertantly described one of the biggest drawbacks with those wheel locking systems. People try to push them beyond the boundaries, they lock up and get left sitting there in the middle of the parking lot and in the way. Then you or I come along, try to grab it to use and it's immovable. 

Plus, there's the expense. Installing those wire barriers requires a crews with asphalt saws to cut a slot around the perimeter of the entire lot,  install the wire etc. Then there's the maintenance of the signal activated lock on the cart wheels themselves.

Expensive system = higher prices.  

Those little plastic lock boxes otoh, cost next to nothing (comparatively) and need virtually no maintenance. I think it's an ingenious idea. 

And I can assure you, the rare Aldi cart that gets left in the lot with a quarter still in the slot doesn't sit there long enough for an employee to have to retrieve it. Another customer will see it, know it's got a fat, juicy quarter just sitting there for the taking, and snap it up. No employee retrieval necessary. 

No offense intended here, but I think that younger people who've grown up in our modern, high tech, electronic gadget-centric world maybe tend to expect everything to be part of that, and have maybe been sort of "programmed" to disapprove of anything that doesn't employ that gadgetry.

We older dinosaur types, tend to feel that there are still some things that are best kept simple and low tech.

But again, to each their own.    

[codypet]

16 hours ago, nite owℓ said:

True, I wasn't aware the quarter could be returned until the 2nd visit... and realized it was more like a deposit system. Regardless, I usually stow my carts in a decent manner -- quarter or not. However, I noticed not everyone at Aldi returned their carts, thus forfeiting their quarters. IMO, people are gonna do what they are gonna do and a quarter is more of a PITA for those of us who normally do not walk around with cash/change. I was told to bring the quarter by the person who recommended I visit the store. The whole thing just seems bizarre in this day & age and those quirks are kind of a turn off for me.

When people don't return their carts, I'll make a beeline to that cart to use it.  The Aldi on Curry Ford and 436 has homeless that collect the carts and return them for the quarters as well.  As for other stores where people don't return their carts, remember the CartNarcs are everywhere.

https://www.instagram.com/cartnarcs/?hl=en

[AndyPok1]

I would venture to say the amount of people carrying quarters is less than the amount of people carrying smartphones.  Especially now that the parking meters take credit, I don't even keep change in my car.

Mildly related, I did a bit of data collection last summer for something I volunteer for, and over 90% of juniors in high school had a smartphone on them.  I always do want to be conscious that not everyone is as tech savvy as others, so we can't just default to an app.  But in this case, I think we've gone past the fulcrum to which is now more cumbersome.

[HankStrong]

Is it weird that I have an ALDI quarter in my truck?  That's the only piece of change I have.  Also, I'm not above putting my quarter back in my pocket and taking someone else's quarter if I see a cart in the lot.

I also hate that companies feel the need for me to have 8,000 apps on my phone.  Just stop already.  I seriously don't need an individual app for every single transaction I make.

Story time.  The weekend before last I went to a fundraising event that happened to have a cash bar in the banquet room.  I walked up, ordered a drink, and got out my phone to pay.  He said they didn't take e-payments.  That's fine, it's sort of new-ish (vaguely) technology that not every place has.  I put my phone away and pulled out my credit card.  He shook his head and said it was called a CASH BAR for a reason, because you had to pay cash.  Technically, it does have the word cash in the name, but that's to tell you that you don't get free drinks included with your event.  As I carry exactly zero dollars in my wallet, I was not drinking that night.  I did leave extra early to make up for it.

 

[JFW657]

21 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

Is it weird that I have an ALDI quarter in my truck?  That's the only piece of change I have.  Also, I'm not above putting my quarter back in my pocket and taking someone else's quarter if I see a cart in the lot.

I also hate that companies feel the need for me to have 8,000 apps on my phone.  Just stop already.  I seriously don't need an individual app for every single transaction I make.

Story time.  The weekend before last I went to a fundraising event that happened to have a cash bar in the banquet room.  I walked up, ordered a drink, and got out my phone to pay.  He said they didn't take e-payments.  That's fine, it's sort of new-ish (vaguely) technology that not every place has.  I put my phone away and pulled out my credit card.  He shook his head and said it was called a CASH BAR for a reason, because you had to pay cash.  Technically, it does have the word cash in the name, but that's to tell you that you don't get free drinks included with your event.  As I carry exactly zero dollars in my wallet, I was not drinking that night.  I did leave extra early to make up for it.

 

I totally agree about the "app overload" today.

Businesses always want to jump on the popular bandwagon and not be seen as being behind the times.

It's downright refreshing to see a company like ALDI buck the trend.

Also, if you're only picking up a few items rather than buying a whole cart full, you can just take your reusable shopping bags(s) in with you and use them to carry your purchases around with you.

Dump them out on the conveyor belt them put them back in after you're all rung up.

I was in the East Colonial store recently and I had a backpack on.

Walked around the store, picked up a few things and carried them that way.

At the cash register, I dumped it out and shook it several times upside down for the benefit of the cashier.  

 

 

[orlandocity87]

On 11/16/2022 at 10:07 AM, AndyPok1 said:

I would venture to say the amount of people carrying quarters is less than the amount of people carrying smartphones. 

That style of shopping cart is so ingrained in German culture that a lot of folks have these keychains: 

[JFW657]

9 minutes ago, orlandocity87 said:

That style of shopping cart is so ingrained in German culture that a lot of folks have these keychains: 

They were carrying their own reusable shopping bags with them ages ago, too.

Long before it started catching on here in the US. 

[codypet]

Yea Ikea was doing that ages ago.  I remember when Ikea opened the woman in front of me in line wanted bags for all her crap and  upon being told that she would have to pay for her bags, paid for her stuff, walked out like she was leaving and then made a beeline for an empty register and stole the bags from there where she wouldn't be bothered.  

Pro tip.  When I got Covid a year ago, I got Aldi delivered.   It came in like 20 Aldi bags that I reuse to this day.

Edited November 18, 2022 by codypet

[JFW657]

2 hours ago, codypet said:

Yea Ikea was doing that ages ago.  I remember when Ikea opened the woman in front of me in line wanted bags for all her crap and  upon being told that she would have to pay for her bags, paid for her stuff, walked out like she was leaving and then made a beeline for an empty register and stole the bags from there where she wouldn't be bothered.  

Pro tip.  When I got Covid a year ago, I got Aldi delivered.   It came in like 20 Aldi bags that I reuse to this day.

They're only like 10¢ each.

I don't see why anyone would be so averse to the idea of them.

And as you did, save them and reuse them.

It's the environmentally responsible thing to do anyway.